


the trust of a set

by HQcharbon (fleurdelester)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, Japan National Team, M/M, Manga Spoilers, Pro Volleyball Player Hinata Shouyou, Pro Volleyball Player Kageyama Tobio, hoshiumi is a sneakily good friend, kageyama is unintentionally comforting, sets used as a metaphor for trust, this is mostly self indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:33:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27605647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fleurdelester/pseuds/HQcharbon
Summary: Five years after they last played together, Kageyama and Hinata try the freak quick for the first time since high school. Hinata is a little bit nervous.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Comments: 12
Kudos: 212





	the trust of a set

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this because I needed a break from my mountain of coursework (grad school is hard), and because all the new panels from volume 45 killed me. It's self indulgent as hell, so enjoy!

Kageyama had set for Hinata thousands of times before.

The first time Kageyama ever set for him, it was a shock to everyone in the gym.

They had been practicing since 5 in the morning, and by the time their senpai had arrived, they’d been going back and forth on a receive drill for what felt like an hour, exhaustion beginning to wear them down and make their hits less precise.

But he’d still dived across the gym for an impossible receive, and when he turned back, Kageyama’s hands were raised to set.

It was a sign of trust then, despite Kageyama’s earlier statement that he didn’t need Hinata to win, he’d still set the ball, giving Hinata a chance to do all he had really wanted, giving him a chance to spike.

The next time, Hinata was the one who showed his trust, rushing into a leap at full faith, his eyes closed as Kageyama tossed the ball directly to the palm of his hand. Kageyama had been shocked afterward, wondering what kind of idiot just has blind faith like that, but Hinata had never had a reason to believe Kageyama wouldn’t deliver the ball to him like he promised.

The toss had always been a symbol of trust between them, and it evolved greatly through their first year, from eyes closed to open, from a quick falling toss, to a wide open one, an encouragement take the leap off the cliff.

Despite how the tosses got better and better, Hinata always saw Kageyama tossing to him as that first toss, that first sign of trust in the Karasuno gym during the first week of school. 

When he’d first left high school, Hinata thought he’d miss Kageyama’s toss a lot more, but he found his own, learning to trust others and to trust himself as an equal member in the setter-spiker relationship, just like he and Kageyama had built throughout their time together in high school.

Hinata trusted all his setters, and he trusted himself to get the point, so why was he nervous _now_ , when he and Kageyama were finally back on the same team, the national team no less?

He’d been so excited when he got the official call, immediately rushing to call Kageyama to tell him the news as soon as he’d found out. They’d finally get to play together, for the first time in years. The freak duo, back on the scene.

But now that they were here, in the Olympic training center, warming up for the first day of practice, his stomach was starting to knot like it hadn’t in years. He couldn’t tell if it was excitement, nerves, or some twisted combination of both.

To make matters worse, when he’d arrived to the training center this morning, Kageyama had immediately glued himself to Hinata’s side, saying he wanted to try the quick again as soon as possible.

It wasn’t that Hinata didn’t _want_ to do the quick again, he knew it was inevitable and him being able to successfully pull it off with both Atsumu and Kageyama would make their team such a versatile weapon on the international stage, it was just that it had been so long since they’d last done it together that he wasn’t sure if the spark that drove them forward during their high school years would still be there.

He was worried that the quick wasn’t _theirs_ anymore, that trying it again would only end in emotional disappointment on both ends, that it would just make them nostalgic for their high school days when everything was simpler.

Hinata was happy with where he was now, he really was, but he still hungered for more. He came back from his two year stint in Brazil expecting that he’d still have much to conquer, but he was finding more and more his goals had become centered around Kageyama. First, to defeat him, then to play with him again. If he achieved both of these goals now, what would be left?

In retrospect, he should have been able to tell that things wouldn’t be the same between them after he got back. They’d finally meet on the top stage in Japan, and now they’re fighting on the top stage of the world together. They’re achieving what they’ve both always wanted, so he just needs to accept that its going to be different. He might not feel the same sense of wonder that kept him on his toes for years when Kageyama finally sets for him again.

He realizes that he’s been staring at his shoes for far too long, his fingers having knotted the laces over and over in his nerves. He sets out to start untangling the laces when Hoshiumi plops himself down next to him, his own shoes in hand.

“You know,” he starts. “I heard Kageyama stayed a whole hour late to practice his sets in the Adlers gym last week.”

Hinata, wondering if Hoshiumi had somehow read his mind, pauses his shoelace detangling to look up.

“I saw him even set up water bottles around the court before I left,” Hoshiumi continues. “It seems like he really wanted to get something perfect before practices for the national team start.”

Hinata must look awestruck, because Hoshiumi grins at him, giving him a pat on the back before standing up and running over to ask Atsumu something. Hinata stays seated for a while, watching everyone warm up around him, when he sees Kageyama approach him from the corner of his eye.

“You ready to start?” he offered a hand, which Hinata took to pull himself up from the floor. “Your hands are all sweaty, dumbass. Don’t tell me you’re sick on our first day of practice?”

“’M not sick.” Hinata mumbled. “Just nervous.”

Kageyama sighed. “We’ve been over this, you _know_ you’re good enough to be here, right? You know these guys, so there’s nothing to be nervous about.” Satisfied, he begins to walk away, but Hinata grabs onto his arm to keep him close.

“It’s not that.” He says, looking directly into Kageyama’s eyes. “I’m nervous about the quick.”

Kageyama tilts his head to the side, clearly confused. He lets Hinata continue and listens patiently as Hinata explains how it’s going to feel different and he’s nervous about it.

“Well of course it’s going to be different, dumbass.” Kageyama says, like it’s the easiest thing in the world. “You’ve gotten a lot better than you were in high school, so this time it’s going to be even better.”

Hinata doesn’t look convinced, so he tries something else.

“You trust me, right?” he asks.

Hinata nods, furrowing his brows together as he waits for Kageyama to continue.

“Then do it with your eyes closed.” He says, a small grin on his face. He looks determined, like he has a plan. “It’ll be just like when we first did it and you sucked at spiking, so that way you’ll be less nervous.”

He leads a reluctant Hinata towards the net, grabbing a ball from the volleyball cart.

“Do you remember what I told you during our first year… during that first match against the Neighbourhood Association?” He asks.

Hinata gulps. He knows exactly what Kageyama is talking about, but he feels too embarrassed to say it out loud. _As long as I’m here, you’re invincible._ It feels almost childish in how brash it is, as an adult he could never imagine himself saying it out loud as easily as he did when he was sixteen. “Yeah, I remember.”

“Good.” Kageyama passes him the ball. “Let me show you, then.”

Hinata takes the leap of faith and tosses the ball in a high arc above Kageyama’s head, running toward the net with his eyes squeezed shut and jumping as high as he can.

The ball finds its way to his hand, the same way it always had, and he opens his eyes just in time to see it slam into the other court. He faintly hears one of his teammates call out ‘nice kill’ from the other side of the gym, but his attention is all on Kageyama as he takes in the awe on his face.

“And? How was it?” Kageyama asks.

“It felt good,” Hinata smiles, tossing the ball back to a grinning Kageyama. “but we can do better.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Leave a kudos or comment if you liked it and come scream about haikyuu with me on twitter @HQcharbon


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